to an ignoring of the Holy
Spirit as the supreme inspirer of preaching. We wish to see a great
orator in the pulpit, forgetting that the least expounder of the word,
when filled with the Holy Ghost, is greater than he. We want the
gospel, forsooth; but in the strenuous demand that it be set forth
according to the "spirit of the age" we ignore the supremacy of the
"Spirit of God." And the method of discourse soon tells upon the
matter. We cannot very long have the truth in the pulpit after we have
lost "the Spirit of truth" therefrom. "When one possesses not the
whole of life," says Vinet, "he possesses not the whole of truth."

In all that we have said we do not ignore the human element in
preaching, nor undervalue good learning and sanctified mental training,
as a furnishing for this high office. We only emphasize the extreme
peril of making that supreme which God has made subordinate. As it is
genius which raises the great {146} painter or poet far above the
common man, so it is the Holy Spirit which lifts the preacher far above
the man of genius. A gifted artist spoke wisely when one, thinking
only of the implements of his profession, asked, "With what do you mix
your paints?" "With brains, sir," he replied. The preacher who
brought three thousand to believe on a crucified Christ, under a single
sermon, anticipated the question of those who, with an eye upon the
mere human accessories of his sermon, might ask after the secret of his
power; and he unfolds that secret in a single terse sentence: "With the
Holy Ghost sent down from heaven."

(2) Prayer is a most vital element in the worship of God's church.
"Lord, teach us how to pray, as John also taught his disciples." Jesus
complied literally with this request of his followers. As John, under
the law, could only give rules and rudiments, not yet having come to
the dispensation of grace and of the Spirit, so did Jesus give a form
of prayer, a lesson in the "technique of worship." But only when he
reaches the eve of his passion, when he announces the coming of the
Comforter, does he lead his disciples into the heart and mystery of the
great theme, teaching them to pray as John _could not_ have taught his
disciples. "Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name," said Jesus, in
his paschal discourse. But now that he was about to enter into his
mediatorial office at God's right {147} hand, and to send forth the
Comforter into the midst of his disciples, this